Iran vows to burnish ties with Pakistan

TEHRAN - Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed his resolve to further promote relations with Pakistan in all fields in a meeting with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain in Tehran.Talking to Hussain, Ahmedinejad expressed his satisfaction over the progress being made on the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project.The advisor appreciated the efforts of the president to materialise the gas pipeline project and gave a briefing to him on the project. Meanwhile, Iranian media reported that Pakistan and Iran failed to reach an anticipated agreement on the joint investment needed for the pipeline that would carry gas from the South Pars field to energy-starved Pakistan.Adviser on Natural Resources Asim Hussain and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad both reaffirmed their keenness to pursue the designed route, Iran government website reported. The pipeline is designed to carry 21.5 million cubic meters gas daily from Iran's offshore South Pars gas field to Pakistan from 2014. Pakistan is expected to get around 750,000 million cubic feet to 1 billion cubic feet of gas a day by mid-2015. Ahmadinejad welcomed the "start of construction on Pakistani soil" and said he hoped the project would be able to go on stream as soon as possible. Construction of the pipeline on the Iranian side has already started."Pakistan has decided to expand its cooperation in all areas, especially energy, with Iran," Hussain was quoted as saying.Iranian news agencies have reported that Tehran is helping Pakistan financially to build its part of the pipeline and is also considering involvement in the distribution network. The Iranian oil ministry's news service Shana reported that Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had met with Hussain and he stressed the need to boost mutual ties and accelerate the construction of the pipeline.

This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 04-Dec-2012 here.